The River of Corn - #BookBeginnings on Friday & The #Friday56

     In school I learned about the conquistadors who explored the Americas -  Hernán Cortés, Francisco Pizarro, and others who were portrayed as heroes. Of course, there was more to the story! In The River of Corn, author John Rose Putnam fleshes out the conquests of Hernando de Soto and his armies in a vivid and engrossing tale. The protagonist is an African slave, called "Gomez" by his captors, who yearns for freedom. His point of view provides a different slant on this history and the effects of the conquistadors on Native Americans.
     If this sounds like a dry history, I can assure you it is not. There's drama, romance, friendship, and treachery, and a great plot to keep you turning pages. Readers who enjoy historical fiction, lots of action, and a compelling story will definitely like The River of Corn.

FYI: I have previously featured Putnam's Hangtown Creek (a California Gold Rush novel) on my blog HERE.

Genre: Historical Fiction
Length of Book: 203 Pages
Amazon Link: The River of Corn (Only 99¢ in ebook format!!)
Author Website: John Rose Putnam
(You can read Chapter 1 from Putnam's newest book on his website.)

Book Beginnings:
     The thunder of many animals running together grew louder. He tensed when far more creatures than he had fingers to count loomed into view. Larger than the forest elk, each carried a warrior on its back. The tales of the old ones, so often mocked by the young, were true.

Friday 56 (from 56% on my Kindle):
You will soon see the true wealth of the Chicora, my friend, for we go to the heart of my country along the River of Corn that is our very soul. But much trouble besets my people there for the plague passes up the river even as we speak. The Chicora suffer terribly from it.

Synopsis:

In 1540 Hernando de Soto and 600 Spanish conquistadors crossed the Savannah River into what is now South Carolina and thus entered the empire of the Chicora, the largest and most powerful Native American civilization in the Southeast. Modern archaeologists have yet to find any trace of that once vibrant society. 

Although now considered a lost civilization, when the Spanish arrived the Chicora were led by a beautiful queen and had a magnificent temple filled with the remains of their honored ancestors. Did Hernando de Soto, a ruthless conquistador with a lust for gold, bring about their downfall? THE RIVER OF CORN is a powerful tale of the destruction of these American Indians told by an experienced South Carolina fiction writer who spent his youth in the locales he writes about, places that match the Spanish accounts almost exactly.

Who were the Chicora? What really happened to them?

               

Anyone can participate in Book Beginnings on Friday and The Friday 56.
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Hangtown Creek - A Tale of the #California Gold Rush - First Paragraph / First Chapter / Tuesday Intros and #TeaserTuesday

    In this epic saga, John Rose Putnam paints a real and gritty picture of life in the Gold Rush era through the stories of each of his characters. A red-haired woman, her husband and son dead from cholera; two army veterans; a widowed man and three sons; three ruthless killers - all of them heading for California. Their quests make for a gripping tale.
    My reading tastes are eclectic, and a good book will keep me up late at night, reading when I should be asleep. That was definitely the case with Hangtown Creek. Putnam drew me into the world of gold panning, saloons, traveling by horseback, and much more with his excellent storytelling, filled with memorable characters, vivid description, and historical detail. I'll be reading more books by this talented author.   

Genre: Historical Fiction / Western
Length: 288 Pages
Amazon Link: Hangtown Creek
Author Website: John Rose Putnam

First Paragraph:
Fall 1846
    The earth, rutted deep from hundreds of wheels, churned raw by thousands of hooves, bore witness to the recent passing of a large immigrant party - all save one battered wagon that sat alone and untended, a loose pot clanking in the cold north wind. Here the trail followed the Truckee River, strangled by a long, dry summer into a trickle of shallow pools, and looking as pitiable as the forlorn wagon.
[Read the rest of Chapter One on John Putnam's website: HERE]

Teaser from 13% on my Kindle:
    All week she had watched them as they mined along the creek. The older one, gray showing in his hair and beard, reminded her of her father, but it was the other one, the tall one with the broad shoulders, who had brought her hope, the same slim hope she carried week after week.

Synopsis:
The majestic landscapes of Brett Harte's California unite with Larry McMurtry's epic old west realism in an explosion of love, lust, murder and betrayal that comes to a powerful climax along a beautiful stream, home to the largest strike in the mines, where a burning barn ignites the passion of a gold rush boomtown and, in one dark night of revenge, earns that stream the name it bears to this day—HANGTOWN CREEK.

Teaser Tuesday is hosted by Jenn of Books and A Beat. Post two sentences from somewhere in a book you're reading. No spoilers, please!

Link at Books and A Beat

First Chapter/First Paragraph/Tuesday Intros is hosted by Bibliophile By The Sea. To participate, share the first paragraph (or a few) from a book you're reading or thinking about reading soon.

Link at BibliophileByTheSea

Twitter: @SandyNachlinger

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